Homecoming
by DocMcRegals
Summary: What if Addison had decided to send Ella to live with Mark permanently? An Alternate Ending to 'Darkness Before Dawn'


"**Homecoming"**

**Okay you guys I'm back with another Ella fanfic, actually it's an alternate ending to the big 3 part fanfic I did a while back, actually an alternate ending to 'Darkness before the dawn'…I had help writing this…My pal EmmaLee (if you haven't read her bomb ass fanfiction go check her out peeps: HeroesEmmaLee) wrote the first half and I wrote the second half…. So it's obviously AU: What if Ella hadn't forgiven her mother when she had said those terrible words to her? 7 years have passed and Ella is in the custody of Mark...**

**Happy Reading,**

**Xoxo, Dee (And Emm)**

…

"Oh my god, Mel, I look amazing!" 13 year-old Ella Grace Forbes Montgomery-Sloan beamed, looking from her bedroom mirror to her friend Melanie. Ella, who had been living in her Dad's apartment since she was 6 and a half years old, decided on this Friday night in December that she and her best friend Melanie would have a sleepover. Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey, Ella's father and his girlfriend of 8 years, were across the hall at her half-sister Sofia's house with her Moms, Ella's Aunts Callie and Arizona, so Ella and Melanie were spending the time doing each other's hair in Ella's room.

"Doesn't it? Waterfall braids always looked pretty on you, Elle." Melanie said, smiling, as she examined the perfectly flowing braid she made in Ella's long and now straight blonde hair.

"You know you have these natural red strands in your hair? It's crazy, you've got the best hair ever. I'm jealous." Melanie told Ella as Ella paused, looking at her hair in the mirror, noticing the few strands of red in her blonde hair. Ella looked at Melanie, her heart starting to pound as she climbed on top of her bed.

"What's wrong, Ella? I... did a good job with the braid..."

"It's not that... my mom-, I mean, Addison... she has red hair." Melanie sat next to her best friend as she hugged her tightly.

"... We don't have to talk about your mom if you don't want to. We really don't, it's okay..." Ella looked over to Melanie, pursing her lips together before speaking.

"She's not my mom. Lexie is." Ella said, nodding. Melanie had Ella rest her head on her shoulder, holding her friend tight.

"You don't have to talk about it, Elle. It's okay." Melanie said understandingly as 7 and a half year old Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres burst into Ella's room, causing both Ella and Melanie to look at her oddly.

"Ella-"

"Sofia, how many times have I told you: KNOCK!" Ella said assertively as Melanie burst out laughing and Ella smirked. Sofia, with her dark brown hair to her shoulders, put a hand on her hip as she held out Mark's cell phone.

"Phone for you." Ella took the phone out of her sister's hand and didn't bother reading the note as she giggled and answered the phone,

"Hello?"

"Hi Ella it's me... your Mom." Ella's eyes grew wide as she lowered the phone down, sighing as she looked at Melanie, then at Sofia. Melanie understood by the look on Ella's face who was on the other line as she put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. Sofia joined the girls on Ella's bed, as she leaned her head on Ella's back. Ella picked the phone back up as she answered almost robotically.

"Hi, Addison. Is there anything you want?"

Melanie nodded, smiling at her friend as she answered. Addison didn't answer on the other line for a while before speaking,

"I wanted to talk to you Ella."

"About Carson? Does she want to talk to me?" Ella said back almost instantly as Melanie and Sofia looked at each other, confused. Instantly, all three girls heard in the background Lexie come into the apartment as she called out to them.

"Ella? Sof? You here?"

"Yeah Mom we're in here!" Ella called out loudly, putting the phone down on her pillow so Addison wouldn't hear what she was staying. Addison, on the other line, felt her heart break into a million pieces all over again. Silent tears fell down Addison's face as she waited for Ella to answer her.

"Is there anything you needed, Addison?" Ella asked, picking up the phone again.

Addison paused,

"... No... no, I just called to say that I have a few surgeries planned for tomorrow afternoon and that I'll be bringing Carson to Seattle for a few days. I'll be by the apartment, and she can stay with you until my surgery is over in the evening. Is that okay with you?" Ella ignored the tone of Addison's words as she smiled and looked at Melanie, mouthing the word "Carson" as Melanie smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that's fine. Is that it?" Ella asked as she took Sofia onto her lap, stroking her sister's dark brown hair.

"Well, Ella, there's something I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Alright Addison I'll see you tomorrow then, Bye." Ella said, interrupting her mother as she hung up on her, handing the phone back to Sofia as she looked at Melanie.

"Was that Auntie Addison, Ella? Don't be mean to her, she's nice!" Sofia said, looking at her big sister as Ella nearly laughed.

"There's A LOT you don't know about your "Auntie Addison", Sof. A lot." She said, as Sofia got off Ella's lap.

"I'm going to bed, you guys. Goodnight Ella, goodnight Melanie. See you tomorrow." She said, looking at Ella with those brown eyes of hers as she opened the door of Ella's bedroom.

"Oh, Sof- by the way, Carson's coming over tomorrow. We're going to play with her all day long. Sound fun?" Sofia grinned. She and Carson, since they were less than a year apart in age, had become very close throughout their years, seeing each other every once in a while over their common bond; their big sister, Ella.

"Sounds great!" She said, running back to Ella as she gave her sister a big hug.

"I love you, Ella." Ella smiled, missing her sister Carson at this very moment in time.

"I love you too, Sofia. Now go to bed." She said with a smile as Sofia skipped out of her room and out of the apartment. Melanie looked over to her best friend with a grin on her face.

"You are SO lucky you have two cute siblings, I've got a football-obssessed 18 year old brother and a boy-loving 16 year old sister. Wanna trade?" Ella laughed.

"Nahh. I love those two; Carson and Sof." Ella remembered that Carson was coming tomorrow and she smiled, but it didn't hold, as she remembered who else would be in Seattle tomorrow as well...

"So, Carley's coming to Seattle- that's always good. Both your sisters are freaking adorable, I will keep saying it." Ella smiled at her friend as she turned to face her.

"Yeah, but Addison's coming with her... and I really DON'T want to see her tomorrow... or ever, to be exact." Ella said, as Melanie made a face.

"Ella... you've got to tell me what she did that was so terrible that you cut her from your life forever, I'm your best friend. Please." She said, putting her hands on Ella's shoulders as her green eyes looked into Ella's aqua blue ones.

"Remember... when I told you about... Jay?"

"Yeah... your friend from when you were little in LA... what about him?"

"Well... the day, she told me he was dead... she found out she was pregnant. Not with Carson... with her boyfriend Sam's baby. But she didn't bother to tell anyone because... I was upset, and broken.. and I was stupid and little. So she didn't tell anyone. No one knew. One day, I'll remember this day forever... Sam, had told me to bring her some coffee. It had only been, I wanna say a month, since Jay had died and I was still a little off... but I brought her the coffee. I walked into her room, on the right side of the bed, where she slept. I put the coffee mug on the end table, and pulled back the covers of her bed. Blood. Everywhere. All over. Her... and, I panicked. I panicked... I called Sam, and I took Carley and we went to the hospital with her. I was younger than Sofia, just 6 and half... but I can never forget that day. They told Sam that she had a miscarriage. I know idea what the hell that was... until Sam told me. She wouldn't see anyone. Not Sam, not any of her friends. But she saw me. And I was so afraid that something would happen that I was reluctant to be near her, too. After that, she started drinking... a damn lot..." Ella said as tears formed in her eyes.

"At night, when Carley and I were asleep... she would done bottles of wine like water.. and she'd be drunk. Lonely drunk. One night... I walked down the stairs to get a glass of water, for my throat... and she saw me and got mad... told me I didn't follow the rules, and that I was disobedient... and that "no was no." And she never, ever... ever talked to me like that before. So I ignored her, took my cup, and she told me that I was causing her so much stress it hurt, and that I sucked the life out of her... I... I was 6, dammit! After that things changed. I came here to visit my Dad, I told him my story... and I went back to LA because my Dad wanted me to talk to my mom. So I told her; I really let her have it. And she gave full custody to my dad. No visitation rights. I see her twice…maybe 3 times a year whenever my Uncle Richard brings her here for surgeries and she brings Carson over. Otherwise, we videochat- Car and I. She gave up on me, Melanie. She didn't even fight for me. She never said she was sorry... she never acknowledged anything was wrong.. nothing. She gave up on me. So I lived with my Dad. And yeah, I missed her. Every day I missed her for the longest time. But I cried myself a river, building a bridge, and got over it. Lexie, she's been my Dad's girlfriend since before I came to live with him. She lets me call her mom, sometimes it's almost like she is. But she's not Addison. And it bothers me... because sometimes I want her to be. Sometimes I pretend she is Addison, but then I remember everything she did to me... and I stop. She broke me, I will never be the same. Because of her." She said, rocking back and forth in her bed as tears came down her face and Melanie hugged her tightly.

"You don't have to be nice to her, you don't have to. You're Ella Forbes Montgomery-Sloan, you don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to. You don't owe her anything, Elle. You don't." She said to her friend assertively as Ella looked at her with glassy eyes. The two friends stayed silent for the longest time before Ella spoke up again, softly.

"You know that every time I write my name in school I think about her... my long, mouthful of a name... the Forbes Montgomery part, that's her. It's all her." She said, looking at her friend in the eye.

"And Carson... you know her legal last name now is Forbes Montgomery-Bennett? I was mailing our Christmas card to them and I saw the name change... Sam, that was his last name. Bennett. He adopted her, you know. Carson. I bet you they're married. Addison and Sam. I bet you they are." She said, looking forward as she nodded.

"Ella... you don't have to involve her in your life anymore. You have tons of people who care about you... your Dad, Carson, Sofia, Callie, Arizona, me... and don't forget about Damian." Ella smiled, and blushed at the end of the list when Melanie mentioned her boyfriend, Damian Carlton.

"Yeah... yeah. Screw her!" Ella said, as both girls started laughing, Ella wiping the tears on her face away as Lexie walked into Ella's room, smiling at the girls.

"Mom- Carson's coming over tomorrow. Addison's in Seattle for a few surgeries, so she's staying with us tomorrow. Can Melanie stay, and Damian come over too? I want Carson to meet him." Ella said with a smile as Lexie noticed Ella's face red and puffy.

"Sure, Elle. You better clean this mess of a room though before you have anyone else over though... honestly, Melanie, I don't know how you can stand sleeping in a room like this with her!" Lexie said to Melanie as all three laughed.

"I will, don't worry. We're going to head off to sleep soon, night Mom." Ella said to Lexie with a grin as Lexie made a face.

"You're going off to sleep soon? ...Sleep my ass, Ella. You kids stayed up until the crack of dawn at your last sleepover." She said with a chuckle as she gave Ella a hug goodnight.

"Night, Elle." She said, now whispering into her ear.

"Make sure you're good with Addison tomorrow, okay?" Ella looked at Lexie seriously as she responded.

"Okay. Night."

"Night." Lexie said, closing the door of Ella's room behind her as she left the girls to their sleepover. Melanie and Ella looked at each other, laughing as they resumed playing with each other's hair...

.

"Ella, Ella, Ella!" Carson said, running down the hallway of the floor both Callie and Arizona and Mark and Lexie's apartment were on as Addison smiled weakly, walking behind her.

"Which door, Mommy?" Carson asked, looking up at

Addison.

"307." Addison said as Carson, with red hair and stunning blue eyes, found the door and knocked on it, as she and Addison heard commotion and a variety of voices coming from inside of the apartment.

"Shit! That's her!" Ella. Addison knew it.

"Alright, what are you going to do?" Said a different voice from a person she did not know, she assumed a friend of Ella's.

"Well... I have to get it, I mean... I want to see my sister."

"Where's your Dad again?" Said a teenage boy to Ella. Boyfriend, Addison assumed.

"Across the hall at my Aunts Callie and Arizona's with Mom." She had said it again...

"Get the damn door, Ella! You can't keep them waiting!" The friend, the girl, said to Ella.

"Fine!" She said with a laugh as she opened the front door of her apartment, to be greeting by the hug of her sister as she picked her up and set her on her lap.

"Carley! Hey! I missed you" She said, looking at Addison for a brief moment before walking around her apartment, holding Carson. Mark, Lexie, Callie, Arizona, and Sofia heard Ella's calls for Carson as they walked out of another apartment, farther down the hall.

"Addison!" Mark said, walking over to give her a hug as Ella put Carson down, talking to her as she walked into the hallway with her friends, 1 boy and 1 girl.

The rest of the crew took turns giving Addison hugs as she turned around and crossed her arms, watching Ella vigilantly. She had grown up tall, like Addison. With her eyes and her smile, and long blonde hair up to her elbows. She was... beautiful. Almost 14 years old. All grown up, and Addison had missed it because of one stupid little mistake. Mark noticed Addison watching Ella with Carson and Sofia and her friends as he put an arm around her, whispering to her.

"She's doing okay you know... that boy with her, that's her boyfriend. Damian." Addison smiled, keeping her eyes on her teenage dauther.

"I checked him out. Good kid. Sweet... especially to her." Addison turned to face Mark.

"She's happy?" Mark saw the pain in her eyes as both of them turned to look at Ella again, linking her hands with the blonde, swoopy-haired boy in the hallway in front of her apartment.

"She's happy." Mark restated as Addison looked at Ella, how she changed... who she became... what she turned her into. She was happy. After everything... Ella was finally happy.

After all, parents would give up anything for their child's happiness, even if it meant letting them go.

But the truth was, neither of them really let go. Addison was miserable, the past 7 years of her life, without Ella. And Ella- Lexie wasn't her mother. She never could be. She loved Mark as her father, but she needed a Mom. Ella wanted closure in Addison, she wanted a mother.

But they lost each other, the favor of 9 crimes….

...

When Mark Sloan told her that their daughter was 'happy', Addison Forbes Montgomery-Bennett was relieved. Although letting the now 13 year old Ella(she was 6 and a half at the time) live with her father, was possibly the most, no the absolute WORST thing she had to do(it was as bad as her miscarriage), she knew(or felt) it was for the best. Ella always seemed to get hurt or something bad happened to her when she was with Addison, so when Ella told her that living with Mark made her happy, and living with Addison didn't, she did what she felt was best for her daughter at the time. Does she regret the decision? She has for the past 7 years, but seeing the now 13 year old smile (a genuine smile, not the fake ones she used when she had lived with Addison) only confirmed that she did the right thing.

"I'm glad she's happy" Addison said as she watched her daughter interact with the blonde haired boy

"She would've still been happy, even if she was still with you" Mark started; this was the dance that was done between the two, Mark knew the redhead very well, or so he thought. Until she started drinking and told their daughter that she quote 'sucked the life out of her', Mark thought he knew Addison almost better than he knew himself. Seeing the look on his beloved 'Red's face when she told him that she was giving him permanent custody of Ella was a look that would be forever etched in his mind.

"Mark, don't start, I'm only here for a few days and I want to see her happy, so let's not have this conversation okay? for me, Please?" she asked softly; even though their relationship didn't work, Addison still knew how to pull on Mark's heart strings; she would forever be the one and only woman in his entire life who would have that power

"So, I hear you and Sam finally got married" Mark said, changing the subject

"Yeah, we did"

"And how's life treating you as a new mom...again, geez Addie, don't you think you're a little too old to be popping out kids?" he smirked

"Oh shut up! I'm the exact same age as you...being a mom again makes me happy" she said smiling at the thought about Sam and her 6 month old son Parker who were back at home

"So, did you get a chance to tell her about Parker?"

"No"

"Addie, he's her baby brother, she deserves to know"

"Mark, she doesn't even want to talk to me...I've been trying to tell her since the day he was born, but she doesn't want to speak to me unless its something related to Carson; even then she doesn't even acknowledge my presence, she simply asks for Carson...she calls me Addison Mark, not mom...Lexie's been more of a mom to her than..."

"Addison stop, you will always be her mother, no matter what, you are responsible for..."

"Screwing her up...Mark..."

"Fine Addie, so how long do you think you'll be at the hospital?"

"Not long, I just have to check on a few patients, so it won't take long"

Just as they were talking, Ella walked over to them,

"Addison, Carson wants to stay the night, is it okay?" She asked

"Uh, yeah, you'll have to come by the hotel to get her overnight bag" Addison said, now talking to Mark

"Sure...you know what? Why don't we all go out to dinner one night while you're in town" Mark said to Addison

"Yeah, you guys should definitely go out to dinner" Addison said

"I meant all of us Addison, you too"

It was at that moment that she pulled him away from Ella, so that she couldn't hear their conversation,

"What the hell are you trying to do Mark? She's happy! I don't want to ruin her happiness, so stop pushing!"

"She's not happy Addison, I know my kid; she pretends she's happy, but deep down she's miserable...I think it's time you told her the real reason why you sent her to live with me"

"Mark, let it go...I am _begging_ you, and you know I don't beg...ever"

"Just, just say you'll think about it"

"Fine, only, only if she wants me there, if she doesn't then I'm making her do anything she doesn't want to"

"I'll talk to her"

After their conversation, they walked back over to Ella who was now holding Carson on her hip

"Okay sweetie, I'm gonna go to the hospital now, Mark is gonna come over and get your night bag so that you can stay with your sister tonight" Addison told Carson

"Kay, have fun saving mommies and babies at work" Carson said as Ella put her on the ground as she ran into Addison's arms

"I will...love you"

"Love you too"

"Good, can I have a kiss before I go?"

"Mommy, I'm not Parker...but I'll give you a kiss anyways" Carson said giggling

"Thank you sweetie, now be good for Mark and Lexie okay?" Addison said as she put the 6 year old down on the ground

"I will, bye mommy! I love you!" Carson said as Addison walked away

"Love you too baby...bye Ella" Addison said, adding the last part in ever so softly

As she stood watching Addison get on to the elevator and disappear, Ella turned to her little sister,

"Hey Car, who's Parker?"

"Our brother"

"Brother? Wait, mom, I mean Addison had another baby?"

"Yeah, she tried to tell you lots of times, but you just keep hanging up on her or you don't talk to her...Ella, why are you so mean to mommy? And how come you keep calling her Add-ieson? And how come you live with your daddy and not Mommy Sam Parker and Me?"

Ella sighed, "You're too little to remember Carley, but I did use to live with you guys"

"I know...mommy has pictures of you all over the house"

"She, she does"

"Uh huh, she even lefted your old room the same, but she had to put all of your stuff away when Parker got inside her belly...she cried for a long, long time...Sam and Auntie Melia said it was because she was sad that you said you didn't want to live with us anymore...is that true?"

Ella had to blink back tears, her mother felt bad about what she said, or at least it appeared this way...now Ella wanted answers...

As she finished signing all of her pre op paper work and had one of the nurses schedule the surgery for tomorrow, she felt a familiar hand touch her shoulder, she turned and smiled when she saw her ex husband smiling at her

"Addie, how are you?"

"I'm good; it still feels weird being here, back at the hospital"

"You know, just because of how things ended with Ella, it doesn't mean that you're not welcome here"

"But it kinda does, you know the rumor mil around this hospital" After Mark returned to Seattle with Ella, questions immediately arose as to why Ella was now permanently living in Seattle, word also got out about Addison's miscarriages and her aborting Derek's child...to this day, people still looked at her with a sort of disgust...what kind of mother doesn't fight to keep their child with them? More so what kind of mother says the awful things Addison said to Ella?

"I know it's just...If I could take it all back Derek I would, but what's done is done so..."

"...Yeah…so Mark tells me you and Sam tied the knot...it's about damn time"

"Shut up! How long did you Meredith run around saying you were 'married'"

"Do not mock my post-it wedding" it was good to see the redhead laughing again

"He also tells me that you're a mom again, but Ella hasn't seen or doesn't know her own brother?"

"Wow, Mark really does tell you everything...you guys are worse than 2 women giddy over gossip"

"Oh shut up!"

Later that night, Mark, Ella (who strangely insisted on coming) and Carson stood outside of Addison's hotel room

"That's probably them, I have to go...Oh I miss him so much...hi baby, mommy loves and misses you sooo much Parker" Addison said as she skyped with Sam and Parker, who babbled happily

"Addie, you only left him just less than 24 hours ago, he'll be fine, won' you big man?" Sam said tickling Parker

"I know I just...you know how I am now about him and Carson"

"I know Addie; the surgery's scheduled for tomorrow right? So you and Carson will be on a plane back to LA the next morning, so relax"

"About that...I think I might let Carson stay an extra couple of days, you know, I mean it's really rare that she gets to see her sister, I mean Ella refuses to visit for any major holidays, so the only time Carson gets with her is when I'm in town for surgery, which isn't often"

"I get it, its fine Addison; they have time out of school next week so..."

"Yeah, I've got to get the door...Bye...I love you, both of you" she said softly before closing the laptop shut and heading for the door, where she was expecting Carson and Mark, but not Ella

'Hi guys...Ella, hi" she said softly as the 3 walked into the room

"Ella why don't you help Carson get her bag" Mark said noticing the tension slowly beginning to build in the room

"Ah, actually dad, I wanted to talk to...Mom...in private" Ella said causing both her parents to look at her strangely

"You, you want to talk...to me?" Addison said, still trying to comprehend the young girl's sentence

"You, you called her...mom, you haven't called her that in...God knows when" Mark said softly

"Yeah, I know, so, do mind if we talk?" Ella said turning to Addison

"Um, sure...is the balcony okay?" Addison asked

"Yeah, sure balcony's fine" Ella said as her mother lead her to the balcony...

Both stood silent for a while, Ella, looking down at the ground, Addison staring out at Seattle's skyline

"So Carson told me you have another baby, Parker is his name right?" Ella said after a while

"Yeah...listen Ella I wanted to tell you before but..."

"So he's Sam's kid right...so, you guys got married right?"

"Yeah, Parker is Sam's and yeah we got married"

"...I always knew you two would get married, he made you happier than any other guy"

Another pregnant pause between the two of them

"Carson said something else"

"She did?"

"Yeah, she said, nothing forget it, it's stupid and I'm not even sure it's true"

"What did Carson tell you Ella?"

"Nothing, just let it go" she sniffled, causing Addison to break her concentration on the Seattle skyline to see her daughter trying to quickly wipe away tears that had escaped her eyes

"Are you okay? Did Carson say something to hurt your feeling's Ella?" Addison's tone was softer, like she would use when Ella was a child

"NO! I said leave it alone okay! Besides, its not like you'd care anyway... you probably didn't even do what she said you did" Ella mumbled as she turned away

"I never stopped caring" Addison's words made Ella stop dead in her tracks

"If, if you never stopped caring...why, why, why'd you send me away?" she asked, sounding like she did when she was 6, which caused Addison's heart to jump into her throat

"I did what I felt was, was best for you" Addison said softly, her back turned towards Ella

"You thought sending me away was best for me?" Ella said angrily, hot tears now free flowing down her cheeks, causing Addison to turn around, revealing a river of tears on her own face

"No, I sent you to live with your father, because I...you said living with you made you unhappy, that and the fact that the first 6 and a half years of your life were filled with misery"

"No, no they weren't...those were the best 6 years of my life...when I was little, you said, you said, you'd never give up on me...you broke your promise" Ella sobbed

"Oh sweetie, I didn't give up on you, I let you go in order for you to be happy...and you are, I look into your eyes and I see happiness, not that fake happy you did when you were with me...I hear it whenever your father calls and tells me about you or sends pictures...I wanted you to be happy Ella and you are"

"Do you know what would've made me happy? You telling me you were sorry! You fighting for me! You not telling me I sucked the life out of you! That, that, mom, would've made me happy, not this" Ella said flailing her arms around

"I was wrong to tell you that you sucked the life out of you...I have to live with that, knowing that I broke you for the rest of my life, but this seeing you, happy, smiling, safe, it reassures me everyday that I made the right choice...if' you had stayed, you wouldn't be this happy, you would've seen more hurt, more pain, more disappointments, you probably would've had yet another accident...I did this for you Ella"

"...Carson said you kept my room the same, until Parker was born; she said you cried really hard when you had to put everything away" Ella said shifting nervously towards Addison; at this point she was more than ready to jump into her mother's arms and let her hold her while she cried

"I did...taking everything and putting it away made me realize that you..." Addison turned away quickly so that Ella couldn't see her sob uncontrollably

"I wasn't what mamma?" she said walking closer to her mother

"You weren't coming back...and it was all because of me" Addison said softly

At this moment, Ella began to sob uncontrollably, hugging her mother very tight, speaking in broken words

'I, I'm, I'm sorry! I'm so, so, sorry...I take it all back, I don't hate you, I could never ever hate you mommy, I don't wanna live here anymore, I wanna come home with you, please mama, let me come home" she sobbed

Addison instantly began to soothe Ella, just as she did when she was little

"Sssshhh baby, its okay...Ella, look at me, you have nothing to be sorry for okay? you should hate me, most times I hate myself because of what I put you through...I'm the one who owes you an apology...I'm sorry sweetheart" Addison said as they had moved to a chair, so that Addison was holding Ella, gently stroking her blonde hair as she kissed the top of her head; she never thought she would get the chance to do this ever again

"Hey, everything okay out here...oh" Mark said as he noticed the two of them, Ella in Addison's lap, Addison's arms wrapped protectively around her daughter, he smiled

"You okay Princess?" Mark asked Ella softly

"Daddy, living here with you these past 7 years has been great, but now...I think I wanna go home" Ella said looking up at Addison smiling...

THE END


End file.
